Has To Be This Way
by karkashan
Summary: 5 years into her 7 year sentence, Kuvira is faced with a challenge she could never have anticipated. The battle begins now. WIP Baavira
1. Standing Here, I Realize

Chapter 1: Standing Here, I Realize

The train moved with the rhythm of the tracks, soothing in its tempo for Kuvira as she sat, manacled but given a generous portion of slack in her chain. The seat was comfier than she thought she'd get, being a prisoner and all. But perhaps serving out 5 years of her sentence as faithfully as she could granted her the occasional perk. Of course, like all perks gained while incarcerated, this small comfort came with a string attached.

Kuvira didn't know what Baatar would say to being referred to as a 'string'. Even after his own 5 years of his sentence he had kept the buffer body shape he had developed in the army, so the description didn't apply in a physical sense as it once had in Zaofu. He was also shackled to his seat. And he was also looking right back at her.

This wasn't the first time they'd been left alone together. That had not been a pleasant experience for either party (and especially not for the guards who had had to wait and keep watch over them), but each time they met things seemed to get back to a semblance of what they'd been.

"You seemed surprised about something when we were shoring up the mines, Baatar," Kuvira said. "I was worried there might've been a gas pocket." That...hadn't been what she'd meant to start off with. She hoped if she kept her face neutral he wouldn't notice she felt like she had a bad taste in her mouth because of it.

Baatar's expression told her plainly that he knew better, but decided to humor her and answered anyway. "We discovered some ancient ruins, almost 10,000 years old at our current estimation." He laughed at Kuvira's stunned expression that she couldn't stifle. "Yeah, that's what I thought too when the first estimations were spread around, but it seems it really is from the time of the first Avatar."

"You say 'it' is from the time, what do you mean?"

Baatar nodded in the direction of a shrouded casket that shared the train car with the two of them. "I mean the platinum sword that the Khan is sending back with the two of us as a gesture of goodwill to the United Republic."

"I should be surprised that the Khan was left in charge of her district instead of being supplanted by a 'Raiko" of her own," Kuvira stated as she popped her neck, "but then again even if they had done their own elections, her people would've just put her right back in power."

A sudden tremor shook the train, startling the two prisoners. Kuvira quickly gave Baatar a once-over with her eyes, making sure he was all right, before saying out loud what they both were thinking, "What was that? Did we run over something?" Turning her head to the left, she raised her voice so that she would be heard by the guard. "Huiqing, are you all all right up there?"

"What? Oh, you meant that weird jump," the female guard replied, "Yeah, we're all good." She shook her head mournfully, "Why couldn't all prisoners be as model as you lot? Make my job a lot easier, that it would."

"I would say it's because we're pretty," Kuvira began, before scrunching her nose in a sign of distaste, "but I was in a cell across from Daiyu for 4 months so I definitely know better."

The sound of glass shattering broke through their conversation, followed by the sounds of muffled fighting and yelling. Huiqing moved quickly to the intercom device next to her guard station, where the two cars (the prisoners/cargo car and the guards' dining car) met. "Can anyone hear me? What was that noise?"

"Guard Huiqing," a taciturn male voice responded, "we are being attacked by strange creatures. Seal yourself into with the prisoners. If anything tries to break through that door you put them down hard, do you understand me?"

"Sir!" she responded swiftly, "Yes sir!"

Kuvira immediately felt agitated. They were being attacked, most likely by spirits if the talk of 'creatures' was anything to go by. But this didn't make any sense. This rail line was well established at this point, so it's not like their presence was angering them. The only two prisoners on the train were Baatar and herself, and the cargo was nothing but supplies that had been purchased from the locals that was to be shipped back alongside them to Republic City. Wait...

Cargo! They were carrying the sword back with them as well! "It must be the sword!" Kuvira said loudly so that the other two occupants of the car could hear her. "If they're spirits they must be trying to get back that sword."

"Oh, but we're not here for a sword," a snarky voice said from the train's roof. A rending, screeching noise forced the three occupants to cringe slightly where they were as the ceiling was ripped away. A man stood at the edge of the new exit to the sky, his eyes a pure, shining red as he stared down as if in contempt. "We're here for the Beifong." He made a motion with his hand, "Kill the women, but bring the man with us."

In answer, several dark red creatures jumped down into the train car. Three were quick to bite through Baatar's manacles, before seizing him by the shoulders and jumping back up to the roof. Another 4 made to attack Kuvira and Huiqing, but the guard was quick to use her metalbending to smack the lot of them with a bench while they were still in the air, sending them through the opposite window and into the valley below.

"Impressive," noted the man. His black leather armor seemed to radiate power in the light of the setting sun. He forestalled more of the creatures jumping down into the fight with a gesture. "No, you are not at her level yet, my friends. Return the man to Rong and inform her that I will be along shortly." With that said, he then jumped down into the train car and moved gracefully into a firebending stance. "Shall we?"

Before anyone could breathe the two benders were at each others throats, bending and weaving all across the insides of the train car. The man kicked out with his feet, sending a plume of fire at the guard. She leapt over it, a portion of a steadying pole in her hands. He pivoted on his foot and shot out another blast. Hiuqing metalbent the weapon she held in her hand, using it to adjust her trajectory before she used both feet to kick him in the back.

A sickening crunch, and the man lay still. Taking no chances, Hiuqing metalbent the man's arms and legs before going over to check his pulse. "Dead," she said as much to herself as she did to Kuvira.

"That's the problem with firebenders," a female voice with a hint of humor in it, "they get snuffed out so quickly when it comes time to play in the big leagues."

Hiuqing spun around to see the dark skinned woman standing in the busted open doorway, frost coating everything around her. The guard raised her arms up, ready to fight once more, but the intruder laughed at her. "Please, darling, know when you're outclassed." The waterbender shrugged, "But then again, I have no interest in fighting you. Daichi was the one who was so gun-ho about his so called 'scorched earthbenders' policy. I don't see the need to personally see with my own eyes that you've died; my little friends are more than enough for that."

"What have you done with Baatar?" demanded Kuvira. Her knuckles were white as she clenched her hands uselessly. She knew why she had had her chi blocked, but she sorely wished her bending was back at that moment.

The waterbender laughed as 40 more creatures gathered at the edges of the open roof while she walked away. "Darling, you have no need to know. Providence of the living and all that." She glanced back briefly with a smirk, her red eyes gleaming. "And it does seem like you won't be living all that much longer, now does it?"

* * *

Darkness.

The creatures were quick to swarm the two earthbenders, pinning them down as they clawed and bit at them.

Pain.

One of the creatures bit down and suddenly Kuvira no longer had a right hand attached to her body. She tried to scream but another creature was holding scratching at her throat.

Helplessness.

She could hear Hiuqing's muffled whimpers of pain and rage. The woman had fought off more than twenty of them, but in the end numbers had overwhelmed.

Rage.

She was being attacked, mauled to pieces. So was a woman whom she respected, a guard who did her job and treated prisoners with as much respect as she was shown. And Baatar had been taken by the masters of these creatures. This would not stand. She would kill all of them.

She.

Would.

Kill.

Them.

All.

"**Finally**," a voice said in her mind, "**I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever want to get back in the groove of things. So then, Forgemaster, shall we get started? It's been far too long since you've wielded me, after all**."

* * *

An explosion of energy rocked the train several cars back from where two humans and several creatures stood. "Xue," said the paler of the two women, "you feel that, don't you?"

"Of course, Misae," replied the dark skinned waterbender. She smirked slightly as she cocked her head. "I think that sword that Daichi was so quick to dismiss might've been worth stealing after all."

"Hmm," was the non-committal response as Misae promptly sat down on the top of the train car. "It's dark out now, so I'll let you deal with things if she starts heading our way before we can split."

"One day Rong will explain to me how laziness of all the possible vices was the one Vaatu's remains strengthened within you. I'm also certain time will cease to function as well if that were to happen so I'm not so sure I should press my luck."

* * *

TBC


	2. Breaking Out of My Pain

Everything hurt. Everything hurt so much. But her hand. Kuvira's hand was gone. That wasn't how it was supposed to be. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply. It wasn't how it was supposed to be, but it was as it was. She counted to five, then let out a shaky breath as her eyes snapped open.

"Now that you're centered," that deep, melodic voice said once more within her skull, "I feel I should let you know that the waterbender who was here earlier is heading back."

"And just what," growled Kuvira back, "do you expect me to do about that?"

"Wield me."

Kuvira glanced at the remains of the casket that had once been a fellow passenger. A sword remained within, its purple glow illuminating the beaten and torn train car. "I assume that you are the sword," Kuvira hazarded.

"Of course, Forgemaster. I could be nothing else."

"There's one problem with your proposed solution," Kuvira waved her bloodied stump of a right wrist, "Would I not need a right hand?"

"You raise a fine point," the sword seemed to hum in thought, before continuing, "Perhaps there is a solution, however."

"What do mean by solution?"

"If you were to gain the abilities of the ones who attacked you, you would be able to regrow your hand."

"Wait," Kuvira said incredulously, "You've seen this kind of thing before?"

"Of course," the sword replied, "these creatures, and the humans who guide them, have gained their abilities by using the power of Vaatu. It was something that was still prevalent, even after Avatar Wan's death."

"But Vaatu was destroyed by the Avatar! How could he have given them powers?"

"Vaatu cannot be destroyed, not completely. Without darkness, there can be no light. But that isn't what I meant. Your enemies have used bits and pieces of Vaatu; his remains, if you will, to modify their spiritual core. By doing so, their bodies change themselves over time to match what their spirit projects."

"I take it we don't have time to do it that way," Kuvira snarked at it.

"We have about a minute, so no. Instead, you must rip off a portion of the flesh of one of those creatures that I slew. Hold it inside your mouth until your left hand holds my hilt firmly in your grasp. Once you start lifting me, quickly swallow. Then you will experience a pain like no other."

"But I will have my hand back?"

"Yes."

There was much the blade was not telling her. Why it called her Forgemaster. How it knew the things it did about Vaatu and soul modification. Just how much this process would change her physically and mentally. But a strained groan from Hiuqing solidified Kuvira's resolve.

She would do this. She would become this.

Kuvira rolled the disgusting flesh on her tongue as she lifted the sword from its rack. She swallowed.

She would kill this night.

* * *

This particular restaurant was an oddity in Republic City. It served traditional Water Tribe meat entrees alongside Air Nomad sides and appetizers. When asked why this combination, a simple explanation of "it was Councilman Sokka's idea" was all that was needed.

"Mako," Wen, a waterbender police officer said to her partner, "That man in the third booth from the exit."

Mako sighed slightly. "We can never catch a break, can we?" He rubbed his forehead to ease the slight headache he still felt from completing a full shift down at the station. "But yeah, I know who you're talking about. He do something odd?"

Wen shrugged as she allowed herself to finish chewing before speaking. "Well, if taking out a sword from a trombone case is odd, then yeah, sure."

"How do you wanna play this?" Mako asked.

"Let me go to the back and get a call in to the station. Think you can keep him from skewering everybody else until backup arrives?"

"I've got this."

Wen placed a hand on Mako's forearm, forestalling him for a moment. He could see the worry in her eyes. "Don't get hurt, detectiveson."

"I'll do my best," he replied, giving her hand a slight squeeze before Wen stood up from the table.

* * *

"Well," said Xue as she ran a finger along the side of her black leather armor, "this is certainly not what I expected." Noticing the dust on her fingertips, she gave them a slight sniff. Whatever it was that she smelled, she recognized something that made her smile in cruel delight. "Oho. That is definitely not something I expected. So, prisoner, just what vice has been reinforced by Vaatu's remains?"

Kuvira, standing there in her tattered prison clothes, growled at the woman. Her eyes were not full and glowing red like the waterbender's, but nevertheless her irises were that shining crimson. She held a glowing sword in her right hand, a hand that gleamed silver in the moonlight. "Where. Is. Baatar?" she snarled.

"Oh, was he your little fuckboy?" Xue taunted, her expression mocking. She laughed harshly. "You've got be shitting me. You're the Great Uniter?" She looked at Kuvira critically. "Yeah, I suppose you are. You certainly look close enough to be that bitch's daughter."

That seemed to shock Kuvira temporarily, before the grip on her blade tightened. "I take it from you tone that my mother wasn't the nice type of Dai Li, then."

Xue blinked. "Huh. Didn't think you knew. She said she just upped and left you in some sort of random town when you were tiny. Guess she thought it would make us grateful to her." She shrugged nonchalantly, "Didn't work, but gotta to give her props for trying, I suppose. Though telling the children you were turning into little soldiers you killed their parents was completely crazy, so maybe I shouldn't really give her any credit."

"No, you shouldn't," Kuvira said, "now tell me where Baatar is before I kill you."

Xue smirked at that. "You need to work on your threats, darling. There's supposed to be an 'or' in there. And you're sure you don't want to know more about mommy dearest? How I knew you two were related and all that?"

Kuvira held her sword in front of her as she spaced her legs apart. "I know what I said. And she didn't give a fuck about me, so I no longer give a fuck about her."

No more words were spoken after that. They weren't needed. Xue's past with Kuvira's mother didn't matter. That wasn't why they were fighting. The waterbender had information Kuvira needed, and the metalbender was willing to do whatever it took to gain it. The red irises, the coarse language, the barely contained rage spoke of something else, however. It spoke of something dark and twisted and vile within Kuvira. It was strong.

Now Kuvira used this strength.

* * *

_"My colleagues would say that rage has no place. That it corrupts and twists until everything is broken."_

She deflected the icicles with her sword as she charged forward. Her eyes never leave her opponent as she slashed at the exposed neck before her. The waterbender ducked out of the way and retaliated with a spear shaped from her frozen element.

_"They are wrong. Rage is an instinct. As natural as breathing. As natural as fire."_

A quick flick of her hands and the sword is moved to her left. With a contemptuous swat of her right hand, the spear is both deflected and crushed. Her attacker tries to hit her with a water whip as she adds distance between them, but Kuvira is no longer standing there.

_"Rage and fire are one. Not that one fuels the other, that isn't how best to think of it."_

Kuvira, having leapt to the side, uses her forward running momentum to leap up onto one of the benches lining the train car. After two quick steps on this higher ground, she all but flings herself at her opponent, her blade poised to thrust into the heart.

_"They are tools. Dangerous tools that are as useful as they are deadly. That is the point where I agree with my esteemed colleagues. Left unchecked, they will consume everything."_

Encasing her arms in solid ice, Xue flowed around the sudden thrust. She lashed out, piercing Kuvira with her elongated talons. The metalbender choked out some blood as her lungs were pierced.

_"But like all tools, if used properly, if controlled properly, rage can be utilized to achieve things in battle ingenuity can only duplicate after centuries of study and preparation."_

Xue's barely formed smirk was quashed when Kuvira did not hesitate to bring her raised sword down; cutting through Xue's left leg at an almost vertical angle, dismembering her foot in the process.

_"Rage turns injury into action. Action turns despair into hope. And hope is the surest path to victory."_

* * *

"You bitch," snarled Xue in anger. The ice coating her left arm quickly melted, before reforming as an entirely new left foot made of the frozen substance. Her right hand balled into a fist a punched Kuvira harshly in the jaw. This sent the earthbender flying through the air, crashing into and through a window in the process.

"Seems like she managed to score quite the hit on you, sister," a bored sounding voice drawled. Xue looked up to see the silver hair and tan skin of her sister.

The waterbender narrowed her eyes. "Has Rong sent the portal yet? I wanna get this damn thing healed," she said, gesturing at her dismemberment.

"Yeah," her sister Hisae replied, "she's also got some explosives set up on a timer or something in the front car, so you might want to hurry and get up here."

Xue cursed at this news before reaching down to grab her discarded foot. She stared at it for a moment, as if contemplating something. Scoffing at herself, she used her ice foot to propel herself back up to the roof.

* * *

It was dark. It was cold. Rocks dug into her side, but she didn't pay them any mind. Instead, she focused on the pain in her chest, in the wound that should have already killed her. Was it a side benefit of the sword, or something to do with modifying her spiritual core?

Voices in the distance. Seemed like somebody was looking for something.

"Hey!" a woman's voice shouted from a few feet away from where Kuvira lay. "I found a survivor over here!" Indistinct voices responded back in answer.

Sounds of boots running across the wet and rocky shore towards her. A sudden light engulfed the water that she lay in.

"Don't worry," an older Water Tribe woman said to her as she healed Kuvira, "you'll be okay. You'll be all right."

"They kidnapped Baatar," was all Kuvira could manage before passing out once again.

* * *

TBC

My colleagues would say that rage has no place. That it corrupts and twists until everything is broken. They are wrong. Rage is an instinct. As natural as breathing. As natural as fire. Rage and fire are one. Not that one fuels the other, that isn't how best to think of it. They are tools. Dangerous tools that are as useful as they are deadly. That is the point where I agree with my esteemed colleagues. Left unchecked, they will consume everything. But like all tools, if used properly, if controlled properly, rage can be utilized to achieve things in battle ingenuity can only duplicate after centuries of study and preparation. Rage turns injury into action. Action turns despair into hope. And hope is the surest path to victory.

\- Muramasa, aka the "Forgemaster", speaking to her fellow teachers at the first firebending school to be formed after humanity left the backs of Lion Turtles.


End file.
